Acclaimed as a comic genius in Japan, actor/scriptwriter/director Kankuro Kudo has been slower to find recognition abroad. His brand of hyperactive comedy, with its machine-gun dialogue and many references to local pop culture, is not the easiest for foreign audiences to understand, though his two previous films as director, "Mayonaka no Yaji-san Kita-san (Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims)" and "Shonen Merikensack (Brass Knuckle Boys/The Shonen Merikensack)" certainly have their fans overseas.

His third, "Chugakusei Maruyama (Maruyama, the Middle Schooler)," is sure to build that fan base, despite its references to old Japanese superhero shows and its frantic, fragmented storytelling.

First, instead of a feudal-era gay couple ("Yaji and Kita") or retired middle-aged rockers ("Brass Knuckle Boys"), his eponymous hero is that universal figure: a sex-crazed 14-year-old boy. Like adolescent male erotic experimenters everywhere, Katsuya Maruyama (Takuma Hiraoka) bends himself like a pretzel in the semi-privacy of his bedroom (which he shares with his nosy, obnoxious younger sister) in a vain attempt to touch his trouser snake with his tongue.